MWC 2013: Visa payWave for Samsung Galaxy S IV?

While NFC (Near Field Communication) is all the rage in the likes of South Korea, the technology has yet to gain traction in our beloved United Kingdom – due in part to security concerns.

But, speaking of South Korea, we’re told that future Samsung handsets will ship with Visa payWave on board, allowing contactless payments at futuristic stores such as, eh, McDonald’s and that.

That’s the news from outta Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, though even Visa isn’t entirely sure how it’ll work.

For example, Visa payWave is compatible with non-Visa cards, though The Verge reports that it remains “agnostic” about which cards will be used.

It’s a similar story on the hardware side of things, with Visa neglecting to mention anything by name. The Samsung Galaxy S IV is probably a top contender, though it’s still unofficial at this stage.

Operators might potentially opt to diss Visa’s payWave app, and as such the company will focus on less "heavily operator subsidized models".

Maybe I’m getting old, but I just don’t see the attraction of contactless payments. It takes me all of 10 seconds to get my credit or debit card out and enter my PIN. Can’t say I’ve ever thought: ‘Man, I wish I could chop seconds off that transaction.’